Midland, TX – On Friday, January
28th, the Midland Crime Stoppers hosted its annual award luncheon at the
Petroleum Club for local law enforcement officers who have made significant
contributions toward the safety of the community. Officers receiving awards
this year represent the Midland Police Department, Midland Sheriff’s Office,
Midland Fire Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, and the U.S.
Marshals Service. Deputy U.S. Marshal George Butcher with the Western
District of Texas, Midland Division, was awarded the prestigious honor by
his division supervisor, Phill Maxwell. In a prepared statement read by
Maxwell, he said that, “We place a lot of emphasis on teamwork to get this
job done. Our office operates as a team, our law enforcement and task force
partners operate as a team, and the whole agency works as a team to locate
and apprehend the worst of the worst in the United States. What we tend to
overlook however, is the individual efforts that are brought together in
order to form that team. Today, we want to acknowledge that individual
effort and recognize Deputy Butcher for the outstanding work he has done
this past year.” Maxwell went on to use an example of a 5-year-old homicide
fugitive case from the Dallas area that was sent to the Midland office last
Christmas. Deputy Butcher coordinated with several agencies, and conducted
numerous hours of surveillance along with members of the Lone Star Fugitive
Task Force, and managed to capture this fugitive within a few days after
receiving a Crime Stoppers tip that he was in the area.

Supervisory Deputy Phill Maxwell on the left
presenting the Crime Stoppers Officer of the Year Award to Deputy George
Butcher